Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Clue

Shiqi shook his head. “It seems there are no leads for the moment. The four of us should leave this place first, so we are not discovered by the people of Starfall Manor.”

The others nodded. The four of them, with the exception of the tomb lord, rose into the sky and flew toward Willow State City.

“Let us return to Willow State City to settle for the night,” Sun Fanbai said. “Then we can discuss what to do next.”

They sped on toward the city.

Then, all at once, the taciturn Yuanwu spoke.

“Gentlemen,” Yuanwu said, “the Shicai of the Heavenly Origin Sect you just spoke of—was he under three feet tall, with the appearance of a child?”

Bai Qiu answered, “Exactly. How did you know that, monk?”

Yuanwu smiled faintly. “I think we need not go to Willow State City after all.”

“Hm?”

At those words, Shiqi and the others stopped in their tracks.

Shiqi asked, “Why do you say that, Master?”

Yuanwu replied, “Just now, when we landed in the back mountains of Starfall Manor, this humble monk habitually opened his spiritual eye to search the area for any other presence, and I have kept it open ever since.”

“Only moments ago, I found a person under three feet tall, in the likeness of a child, coming out from the direction of Starfall Manor and burrowing into the earth. He is now beneath us, moving through the ground toward Willow State City.”

Bai Qiu said, “A body of that shape, with such ability, can only be Shicai!”

“Looks like this Shicai is indeed connected to Starfall Manor,” Sun Fanbai said.

“Then catch him and we will know!” Shiqi said hurriedly.

Yuanwu pressed his palms together. “Follow me.”

With that, the four of them descended.

Yuanwu’s spiritual eye never left Shicai’s position. Shicai moved rapidly through the soil, not at all slower than the four were in flight.

The moment the four landed at low altitude, Shicai sensed a presence locking onto him. Using a secret art to look about, he saw the four in the air, hot on his heels.

“Mercy!”

Shicai was terrified. Fearing he had run into an enemy, the cowardly wretch immediately poured every ounce of his qi into speeding through the earth.

Shiqi narrowed his eyes. “That little mouse runs pretty fast! I’ll intercept him ahead. Everyone else, seal off his retreat!”

“Brother Shiqi, take this.”

Sun Fanbai drew a Binding Immortal Rope from his interspatial ring and tossed it to Shiqi.

Shiqi caught the rope, then drove his Hundred-Mile Sword to full power beneath his feet. With a whoosh, he shot forward.

Immediately after, Sun Fanbai and Yuanwu flew left and right.

Because Bai Qiu was slower, he took charge of sealing the rear.

In an instant, Shiqi reached the position directly in front of Shicai. He drew out the Thousand-Edge Shield and unleashed Wall Rising to the Sky.

The shield instantly swelled in size. Shiqi gripped it from above and, from the air, slammed the enlarged shield brutally into the surface of the earth.

With a thunderous crash, the Thousand-Edge Shield plunged into the ground under the force of its own momentum, half-buried in the soil.

Shicai, beneath the ground, heard the great roar and then saw his path ahead blocked by a massive shield. He hurriedly turned and fled to the left.

Sun Fanbai landed and shouted, “Going somewhere?”

The words were scarcely spoken when he stamped on the ground and the Eight Trigrams array formed beneath him.

Earth Trigram Formula, Earth-Roofing Basin!

Earth Guard Wall!

Sun Fanbai directly manipulated the Earth Trigram Formula, turning the layer of soil beneath his feet into a earthen wall that blocked Shicai’s route.

“Damn it!”

Shicai changed direction again and ran to the right.

On the right was Yuanwu’s blockade. He drew out the Demon-Subduing Staff and thrust it heavily into the ground.

When Yuanwu had previously fought Juese, Bai Qiu had thrown him the Demon-Subduing Staff to use. Afterward, Yuanwu returned it to Bai Qiu, but Bai Qiu, on the grounds that a Buddhist treasure was of no use to him, insisted on giving it to Yuanwu.

Yuanwu had tried to refuse for a long while, but in the end could not outtalk Bai Qiu, so he accepted the staff and, in recent days, had refined it with his mind.

Seeing that there was no path on the right either, Shicai turned and fled backward.

“So, you want to run?”

The words had hardly fallen when Bai Qiu landed. From behind him, he drew several Heaven-Thunder Talismans. With a flick of his fingers, the talismans instantly became hard as iron. Bai Qiu waved his hand, driving the talismans into the ground. At once, a wall of heavenly thunder rose beneath the earth below Bai Qiu’s feet, blocking Shicai’s route.

Seeing that his paths in front, behind, left, and right were all sealed, Shicai panicked and hastily burst out of the soil, intending to flee through the air.

He had barely emerged when a flash of gold cut across the air. Shiqi’s Binding Immortal Rope had arrived. Before Shicai could dodge, he was wrapped up tightly like a rice dumpling.

Shicai struggled, but the more he struggled, the tighter the rope became, squeezing him until he howled in pain.

The four came before him and looked down at the man bound hand and foot before them.

Shicai looked up and, just as luck would have it, saw Shiqi’s angry face. He cried out in terror, “G-ghost... ghost... Daoist Shi... it wasn’t me who harmed you. If there is resentment, there is a master of it... y-you should go find someone else for revenge...”

Before Shiqi could even speak, Shicai was already stammering and begging for mercy.

With a sweep of his hand, Shiqi dispersed the Binding Immortal Rope. He slowly crouched beside Shicai and said, “You know me?”

Shicai was already frightened half to death. He muttered, “Kn-know...”

Shiqi sneered. “How do you know me?”

Shicai lowered his head, his body trembling, too afraid to speak.

Shiqi laughed again, drew out the Hundred-Mile Sword, and cast it to the ground. The blade stuck into the earth in front of Shicai.

“If you keep quiet, I’ll pierce your throat with a single sword.”

“Aah!”

Shicai screamed in fright and hurriedly said, “B-big brother! G-grandfather... I...”

“Speak properly. Don’t stutter!”

“Y-yes, yes. Grandfather, my real name is Shicai—Shi as in history, Cai as in talent, not the greens you eat. I am a native of Willow State. I lost both parents when I was young and was taken in by my master, True Man Fengyuan. I was born disabled, with the appearance of a three-year-old child, unable to grow taller or older. Do not be fooled by my face; I’m already over thirty. From childhood I have worked diligently and never done anything wicked—no, that’s not right... when I was ten, relying on my short stature, I peeked at the female disciples bathing at Saintess Mountain. Aside from that, I never did any other evil! Great brothers, no, great grandfathers, no, great ghost-grandfathers, spare this little one’s life!”

The four were drenched in sweat. The fellow’s tongue had suddenly become quick, spilling out words like beans from a broken sack. He rambled on and on, and Shiqi could not even cut him off.

Slap!

Behind Shicai, Bai Qiu smacked him on the head and barked, “Get to the point! Who told you to tell a story? If anyone’s going to tell a story, it’s not you—don’t we have the Story Sage right here!”

“Aah...” With that blow, tears sprang from Shicai’s eyes. Trembling, he said, “G-great grandfathers, wh-what point am I supposed to say...”

The four surrounded him. If one were to look from afar, it would seem like four grown men were gathered together, bullying a three-year-old child until the child wept miserably, pitiful to the extreme.

Shiqi lowered his head and said slowly, “Starfall Manor, Yuan Chengtian, Yuan Chenglu, Shiqi. Do I need to hint any further?”

Shicai wiped his tears and said through sobs, “I... let me think... At first, I accepted a commission from Yuan Chengtian of Starfall Manor to find and follow Shiqi. Later, I found traces of Shiqi in Willow State City. From then on I kept following him. Then I reported Shiqi’s whereabouts to Yuan Chengtian. Later... later Yuan Chengtian fought Shiqi and the others near Mount Jiazi... After that, I kept secretly trailing Shiqi all the way to East Sea City. I... I inadvertently overheard that Shiqi was going five hundred li south of East Sea City, so I told Yuan Chenglu. And after that... Yuan Chenglu hired the Sun and Moon Brothers to ambush Shiqi on the beach. And after that... the woman beside Shiqi desperately sent him out to sea... And after that, I don’t know. Daoist Shi, if you’ve returned as a vengeful spirit, don’t come for me! I was only the one doing the work—the ones truly causing trouble behind the scenes were Starfall Manor! It was the Yuan Chengtian and Yuan Chenglu brothers!! If there’s resentment, seek the one responsible; go find them!! Spare me!!”

After hearing all this, Shiqi’s eyes had long since turned icy. A surge of fury rose from within him, and he forcefully held it down as he said in a low voice, “I ask you, what happened to that woman later?”

Shicai thought for several breaths before slowly saying, “She... I don’t know what secret art she used, but in an instant she became terribly powerful, and then she struck back once, forcing Yuan Chenglu and the Sun and Moon Brothers to retreat. Later... later...”

“Later what! Say it!”

Shiqi’s rage surged to the heavens. He drew the Hundred-Mile Sword from the ground and pressed it to Shicai’s throat.

“Oh heavens... spare me...”

Tears poured from Shicai’s eyes. He dropped to his knees and cried.

“小Seven!”

Bai Qiu flashed behind Shiqi and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Calm down!”

“Amitabha!” Yuanwu intoned softly.

At once, Shiqi felt the fury within him begin to ebb. His mind grew much calmer as well.

“Phew...” Shiqi let out a long breath and asked in a steady voice, “And then?”

By now Shicai was trembling all over with fear and could not get a single word out.

Sun Fanbai stepped forward, patted the terrified Shicai, and said gently, “Little brother, say it boldly. Tell us everything exactly as it happened, word for word. I, Sun, guarantee your personal safety. I am a disciple of the Cloud-Purity Sect, and my word is my bond.”

After Sun Fanbai’s reassurance, Shicai finally calmed down little by little.

After a moment, he continued, “After that woman repelled the three of them, the three adjusted themselves and were just about to counterattack when they saw her turn into a streak of green smoke and vanish from heaven and earth.”

At those words, Shiqi sat down hard on the ground.

Though he had long guessed Su Xiaomu’s fate, until he saw it with his own eyes and heard it with his own ears, he had still clung to a sliver of hope.

Shicai’s words shattered that hope.

The merciless truth told Shiqi that Su Xiaomu had truly perished.

Shicai shivered. “Gentlemen... gentlemen, I’ve said everything I know. Can you let me go now?”

Sun Fanbai walked up to Shicai and asked, “Tell me, do you know how Yuan Chengtian died?”

Shicai nodded, then shook his head violently.

Bai Qiu barked, “Do you know or not?!”

Sun Fanbai said, “If you do not speak, I cannot guarantee that Shiqi’s vengeful spirit will not carry you away.”

Shicai hurriedly nodded again and again. “I know, I know!”

“T-that day, Yuan Chengtian was defeated by Shiqi and the others and fled in panic. I followed closely behind.”

“Later, Yuan Chengtian met his younger brother, Yuan Chenglu. After that... the two spoke a few words. I was too far away to know what they discussed. Then, Yuan Chenglu suddenly struck and killed Yuan Chengtian... and... and cut off one of his hands. After that, Yuan Chenglu took Yuan Chengtian’s corpse away. I... I hid for a long while, then went forward and took Yuan Chengtian’s right hand.”

Shiqi suddenly rose. “Yuan Chengtian’s right hand is with you?!”